Mail-car bag-rack.



A. MARTI.

MAIL GAR BAG RACK.

APPLICATION FILED 00124. 1910.

,1 1 Patented Aug. 29, 1911.

3 BHEETB-SHEET 1.

Attorney A. MARTI.

MAIL CAR BAG RACK.

APPLICATION FILED 00124. 1910.

1,002,168; Patented Aug. 29, 1 911.

3 BHEET8-SHEET 2.

j B. F D 11F I .I a

WITNESSES INVENTOR M Mr Attorney A. MARTI. v MAIL GAE BAG RACK.

APPLICATION nun 001224. 1910.

1,002,168; Patented Aug 29, 1911.

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Il z'lnesses, .Dzrenlor;

COLUMBIA PLANOdRAPH 1:0" WASHINGTON D 1.

ALBERT MARTI, OF FOND DU LAC, WISCONSIN.

MAIL-CAR BAG-RACK.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed October 24, 1910.

Patented Aug. 29, 1911. Serial No. 588,802.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT MARTI, a citizen of the United States of America, and resident of Fond du Lac, in the county of Fond du Lac and State of Wisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mail-Car Bag-Racks, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in mail bag racks especially adapted for use on railway cars.

The invention has for its object, among other things, to provide for the ready folding or collapsing of the rack so that it will be out of the way when not required for use.

A further object of the invention is to swiftly support in a convenient position the letter tray or holder for assorting mail matter and to provide for the ready removal and replacement of the tray.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will appear in the course of the following specification.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 is a top plan view of one form of my mail bag rack, one end thereof being broken away; Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same; Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the rack; one end thereof being broken away, with the tray removed and the rack swung or folded to one side; Fig. 4 is a front elevation of the folded rack shown in Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is a side view and a front view of one of the mail bag suspending hooks; Fig. 6 is a plan view of the locking bar or member; Fig. 7 is a view, partly in section, taken through the locking member and its cooperating and contiguous parts as illustrated in Fig. 1; Fig. 8 is a perspective view of a modified form of my mail bag rack, one end thereof being broken away; Fig. 9 is aside sectional view of the tray supporting bars showing the tray mounted thereon; and Fig. 10 is a side View of one of the tube supporters showing the same with a tube clamped therein.

Referring to the drawings, A designates a bracket which is pivotally supported in position as shown at F and M to admit of a lateral swinging movement of the bracket. Suitably supported in position upon the bracket A are horizontal bars G and H, the ends of which are secured in right angular cut-out portions D in supporters D. The supporters D are provided with depending cylindrical shank portions D which are seated in vertical holes D in the bracket A.

. edges 0' By this arrangement, it will be apparent that when the rack is not in use, as'the bracket A is swung laterally, the supporters D will pivot in the holes D and permit the bars G and H to turn or swing to the folded or collapsed position as best seen in Fig. 3. The bars G and H have removably connected thereto hooks I for readily suspending the mail bags or sacks in position. The bag or pouch suspending hooks I are readily removable in any suitable manner, preferably as shown in Fig. 5, for the ready renewal of said hooks.

A tray L for holding the mail to be assorted is suitably supported in position upon the cross bar H, which is preferably right angular in cross section, and upon a bar K.

The bar K is mounted in the cut-out portion E in a supporter E. The supporter E is provided with a depending cylindrical shank portion E which pivots in a vertical @hole E in a cut-out portion in the extreme forward end of the bracket A. The rear 5 end of the tray L is provided with a horizontally-extending grooved bar J into the ;groove of which fits the horizontal portion .PH of the right angular bar H, as best seen .in Fig. 2. 1 bottom of the tray L is secured a longitudinally-extending grooved pendent K into Centrally of the lower side or the groove of which fits the upper edge of the bar K. By this arrangement it will be noted that the tray may be readily applied or disposed in position when required for use, or removed when not in use, as when the bracket A and bars G, H and K are folded back out of the way.

A locking bar B, disclosed in Fig. 6, is adapted to be applied to the supporters D, said locking bar having apertures B, one at each end through which pass the shanks D of the supporters D. Intermediate its 1 ends the locking bar is provided with a reduced portion B which rests on a reduced portion A of bracket A. As illustrated, at the forward end of the reduced portion A the bracket A is shouldered at A and in order to adapt it to conform to this shoulder A the locking bar B is shouldered at B Contiguous the shoulder B is a transverse hole B in which is positioned a pivot B to fulcrum a bifurcated cam lever C which straddles the reduced portion B of the locking bar B. The ends of the bifurcated portion of the lei er C are each provided with cam adapted to engage the shouldered portion A of the bracket A at the reduced portion A.

As shown in Fig. 2 the cam edges C are adapted to engage the shoulder A of the bracket A thereby moving the locking bar B longitudinally of the bracket A on which it is mounted and causing one side of each aperture B to engage the shank D of each supporter D with sufiicient pressure to prevent the supporters D from turning and hence holding the cross bars G and II firmly in position.

lVhen the lever is in the posit-ion indicated in Fig. 4:, the parts may be readily folded back out of the way, it being understood the letter tray L has previously been removed from the bars H and K.

Figs. 8 to 12, both inclusive, of the drawings illustrate a modified form of my invention in which N represents the bracket, the lower end of which is rounded and pivotally mounted at O in the floor or other support. The upper end of the bracket is provided with an upwardly extending rounded projection P which is pivotally mounted in a socket in a bracket Q, which is suitably secured to the wall of the car or other place where it is mounted. The top of the bracket Q is provided with a circular aperture Q, into which extends a set screw Q for a purpose to be hereinafter explained. The top of the bracket N, intermediate its ends, is provided with vertical holes I which open into semi-circular apertures I Pivotally mounted one in each hole N are tube or rod supporters B. Each supporter is provided with a body portion having a circular aperture R therein, and a set screw R works into the circular aperture R for a purpose to be hereinafter explained. The body portion of each supporter is abruptly shouldered at R and depending centrally from said shouldered portion is a cylindrical shank R which passes through one of the holes N and projects into one of the apertures N The lower end of each shank R is provided with a transverse hole B through which is projected a cotter pin R to prevent accidental withdrawal of the supporter R. Intermediate the vertical holes N the bracket N is shouldered or cut down at right angles at N and the portion contiguous the cut down portion is reduced in thickness as at N whereby outstanding abutments N are formed. Positioned on top of the bracket N is a locking bar B, which is similar to the one shown in Fig. 6 and previously described, and hence the same reference letters hertofore used will be applied to'the locking bar used in the modification disclosed in Figs. 8 to 12, both inclusive. The shanks R of the supporters R pass through the apertures B in the locking bar and the reduced portion B of the locking bar lies over the reduced portion N of the bracket N with the right angular portion 13 of the bar resting in the right angular portion l 3 of the bracket N. The locking bar is operated by means of a cam lever C, which is similar to the lever shown in connection with that form of my mail bag rack illustrated in Figs. 1 to 7, both inclusive, and hence the same reference letters are used in this modification. The extreme forward end of the bracket N is provided with a cut-out portion N and centrally thereof is a vertical hole I 7 in which is positioned a supporter R which is similar to the type shown in Fig. 10, and hence has the same reference numerals applied thereto.

Secured in the circular aperture Q in the bracket Q and in the circular apertures R in the supporters R are tubes S, S, S and S respectively, which are securely clamped in position by means of their respective set screws Q and R Supported just above the tubes S, S, S and S by means of preferably removable lugs or spacers T are fiat bars U, U, U and U Encircling and freely movable on the tubes S, S, and S are hooks V designed to support bags or sacks.

A tray W is provided with a grooved bar WV extending longitudinally of its rear face and a grooved bar WV mounted longitudinally of its lower face or bottom is designed, when in position, to have the bar U carried by the tube S fit in the groove in the bar W at the rear of the tray and the bar U carried by the tube S fit in the groove in bar W As is the case with the tray L shown in the other form of my invention, the tray IV can be readily placed in position and removed.

In each form of my invention I have shown only one bracket A and N respectively, as the other bracket and connections at the other end of the rack in each instance are similar in all respects to the ones illustrated, and hence have not been shown as it would be a mere duplication to do so.

The form of my invention in which tubing is employed has obvious advantages among which is the lightness secured and the fact that the hooks V are readily movable thereon.

I claim 1. In a device of the character described, a movably mounted bracket, supporters, shanks carried by said supporters, said shanks being pivotally mounted on said bracket, cross arms carried by said supporters, a locking bar provided with apertures through which said shanks project, a cam lever fulcrumed to said locking bar, and a bearing for the cam of said lever carried by said bracket whereby when said lever is moved to cause said cam to engage said bearing said locking bar will engage the shanks of said supporters to hold them stationary,

and said cross arms in the desired relative position.

2. In a device of the character described, a movably mounted bracket, spaced apart supporters pivotally mounted on said bracket, cross arms carried by said supporters, a shouldered portion carried by said bracket, a locking bar in engagement With a plurality of said pivotally mounted supporters, a shouldered portion carried by said locking bar and disposed opposite the shouldered portion of said bracket, a cam pivot ally mounted on said locking bar in operative relation to the shouldered portion of said bracket, and means for moving said cam in and out of engagement With the shouldered portion of said bracket to cause said locking bar to lock or unlock said pivotally mounted supporters.

3. In a device of the character described, a movably mounted bracket, cross arms spaced apart longitudinally of said bracket, means for movably mounting said cross arms on said bracket, a bearing carried by said bracket, a locking bar arranged longitudinally of said bracket, said locking bar loosely engaging a plurality of said means for movably mounting said cross arms, and releasable engaging means carried by said locking bar, said releasable engaging means being adapted to engage the bearing carried by said bracket to move said locking bar longitudinally of said bracket to engage said movable mounting means to hold said cross arms stationary.

In Witness whereof, I hereunto afiix my signature in the presence of two Witnesses.

ALBERT MARTI.

l/Vitnesses:

O. H. EcKE, W. W. HUGHES.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

